February 17: While there's already been a lot of discussion, this is the first day of real off-season action. This is the first day for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition tag players.
February 19-25 : Starting on Wednesday, 300 prospective NFL players will pile into Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. This is essentially a skills gauntlet for scouts to gauge where players stack up to each other physically.
March 3: Deadline for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition tag players.
March 8: Teams are permitted to enter into contract negotiations with players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2013 Player Contracts on March 11. A contract cannot be executed until March 11.
March 11:
This is the "big one". It could be seen as the midpoint of the off-season. Before March 11th you have to have your house in order, and after March 11th is a mad rush towards the Draft, during which you work out how important that process will be. March 11th involves;
- Clubs must exercise options for 2014 on all players who have option clauses in their 2013 contracts.
- Clubs must submit Qualifying Offers to their Restricted Free Agents with expiring contracts.
- Clubs must submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2013 contracts and who have fewer than three Accrued Seasons of free agency credit.
- All clubs must be under the 2014 Salary Cap.
- All 2013 player contracts expire.
March 11: After all of the above has been dealt with, 2014 officially begins for the NFL.
- The 2014 League Year and Free Agency period begins.
- Trading period for 2014 begins.
April 7: Clubs that hired a new head coach after the end of the 2013 regular season may begin offseason workout programs.
April 21: Clubs with returning head coaches may begin offseason workout programs.
May 2: Deadline for Restricted Free Agents to sign offer sheets.
May 7: Deadline for teams to exercise Right of First Refusal to Restricted Free Agents.
May 8-10: 2014 NFL Draft. 224 players will be prospectively chosen by teams, and most will be signed to rookie contracts, beginning their NFL journey.
June 16: Deadline for club to withdraw Qualifying Offer to Restricted Free Agents and still retain exclusive negotiating rights by substituting a “June 15 Tender” of a one-year contract at 110% of the player’s prior-year salary.
July 15: Deadline for any team that designated a Franchise Player to sign him to a multi-year contract or extension. After this date, the player may sign only a one-year contract with the team.
And after surviving through all of this we begin on the new season. The full schedule for the regular season will be unveiled in April, and there’s no doubt that I’ll be covering that as soon as it’s public.